Steve Geddes's page

Hi paizo people

I'm presumably worrying needlessly, but I have both a deluxe and a regular comics sub. Am I right in thinking that I'll get one copy of all the regular covers with two copies if the paizo.com exclusives for both the regular series and the more limited story arcs?

I figured that's likely to happen, but recall some oddities when the double sub was set up, so thought I'd raise it ahead of time.

Cheers
Another difficult customer

Having settled on essentials as my preferred 4E system, I have a bunch of 4E books we no longer have any use for. If any of the regular 4E forum posters would like to fill out their collections, I'd be very happy to give them to you for nothing - I'll cover the cost of shipping too, although that's from Australia so might take some time... Here's what I am looking to give away:

Madness at Gardmore Abbey
Vor Rukoth
Hammerfast
The Slaying Stone (A really underappreciated 4E module, in my view)
Orcs of Stonefang Pass
Tomb of Horrors
Revenge of the Giants
Halls of Undermountain
The H1-E2 series of modules (E3 is already spoken for)
Tieflings
Dragonborn
Marauders of the Dune Sea
Khyber's Harvest (missing the dungeon tile)
The Planes Above
The Planes Below
Manual of the Planes
Dragonomicon:Chromatic
Dragonomican:Mettallic
"Silver Cover" Monster Manual (Errata'd maybe?)
"Silver Cover" Player's Handbook
"Silver Cover" Dungeon Master's Guide
Red Box
Elminster's Forgotten Realms
Heroes of Elemental Chaos
Heroes of the Feywild
Heroes of Shadow
Adventurer's Vault
Adventurer's Vault 2
Dragon Magazine Annual
Neverwinter Campaign Setting
Dark Sun Creature Catalog
Eberron Campaign Guide
Eberron Player's Guide
Dungeon Magazine Annual
Dungeon Delve
Player's Strategy Guide
Player's Handbook 2
Player's Handbook 3
Martial Power
Martial Power 2
Divine Power
Arcane Power (Cover is printed upside down relative to contents)
Primal Power
Psionic Power
Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide
Forgotten Realms Player's Handbook
I also have two copies of the PF Core Rulebook (4th Printing) and the Alternity: Dark Matter Campaign Setting, if they'd be of interest.

If there's anything there you'd like, please send me a pm over the next week or so (I'll post here once they're all spoken for) and I'll try and divvy them up in a roughly fair way (feel free to prioritise your list if there's one or two that you really want).

If there's more than one person wanting a specific book, it'll be decided partly on a 'first come, first served' bases but also pretty heavily skewed towards those people I recognise from posting on the 4E forum - kind of a 'thanks for teaching me how it works' thing.

Hi Paizo. I was a little surprised/disappointed in the most recent comics subscription (#7) in that it seems that the street date has come and gone, but my subs havent yet shipped. Perhaps you received the comics later (or at the same time) as everyone else? If not, I can understand that nearly everyone is going to prefer you hold off for the week or two between when the comics arrived and when the regular subscription was due to be released. Nonetheless, it seems like they're catered for by allowing the "Hold for Monthly Paizo Shipment" option.

My understanding was that the "Never Hold Anything" shipping option meant that as soon as the comics or Minis arrived with you (presuming street date wasnt going to be breached, and other licensing arrangements which might impinge) they would be shipped out to me, irrespective of when the next paizo subscription shipment was due. I dont really understand the difference between my chosen option and "Hold for Monthly Paizo Shipment", since it seems to me the latter is what has happened anyhow.

I'm obviously not entitled to anything - but it seems I've misunderstood exactly what my selection entails. Are you able to clarify for me where reality and I are failing to understand each other?

(To perhaps clarify - I'm wondering about dropping my 'standard sub' and rather just preordering a copy to read/cut up through my local comic shop. It seems to me that if I'd done that, one copy would now be on the way - if so I see that as a flaw, since the big (sole, really) value to me of your subscriptions is the fact I'll get them as soon as possible).

Thanks for any light you can shed.
Cheers
Steve

Nice work. Very easy to use. :)

Well maybe it is you (I hope it is). The following order seems really, really strange to me - despite all the evidence pointing to it being my fault, I'm holding out hope it's your computer system. :/

I placed order #2551721 on Sunday - a whole bunch of Raging Swan print products (solidarity for the internet-abused and all that). And I swear I selected the print options - not the print/PDF options (I really dont want the PDFs and my downloads page is getting annoyingly crowded).

Furthermore (and this is the weird bit), I am dead sure that the "confirm my order" part showed no charge - ie that there were no PDFs included and that my products would go into my sidecart to ship with my next subscription shipment. I'm sure that if it had said "we're going to charge you $x today and some more when it ships" then I would have twigged that I was messing up.

Earlier today, all my Kickstarter PDFs showed up and I noticed the PDFs of all the Raging Swan things I'd bought are now included. However, when I check my emails and order history (the above order being split to orders 2551733 and 2551737) it shows me ordering all the print/PDF options - except for Tribes Anthology II (which I apparently ordered the PDF only - despite the print copy now being in my sidecart). I'm terribly confused by all that (although not entirely surprised - today my email decided that a good place to file deleted messages was my inbox for some reason...)

What do I want? (I hear you cry in some desperation)

Well nothing really, other than confirmation that I'm going to get all my books and (if it's possible) some investigation into what happened with hopefully a final determination that your computer is just messing with my mind and I did, in fact, order the print only options.

I dont hold out much hope though - even I am beginning to think I may have inadvertently ordered some PDFs. I just dont see how... :(

Yours Sincerely
Sad and Confused

Is there any chance of getting a "hide this PDF" button on our my downloads page?

I very rarely use the PDFs and it's getting harder and harder to find them when I do (especially given a bunch that just appeared from paizo online kickstarter, I presume). It would be great for me if I could hide PDFs I dont think I'm ever going to use (with a 'show hidden files' option, obviously). As it is, I'm even less likely to use the PDFs I might want, since I have to dig through several hundred titles.

I'm currently running Serpent's Skull using DCC/Swords & Wizardry. Would anyone have any suggestions for a source for a suitable Charau-Ka stand-in? (Any similar monster from any oldschool gamesystem would be of interest).

Maybe this should go in conversions, but it seems reasonably suited for this forum...?

Presumably you dont have any firm answer, since the next bunch of issues arent showing up on the store yet, but I wondered if you had any rough idea as to when the next arc will be released?

I realise it's a new line and no doubt requires a fair bit of coordination given the need to line up the outside artist/author/publisher with the Paizo contributions, but I'm hoping the uneven releases we've seen so far will sort themselves out and we'll get into a one-issue-per-month rhythym soon enough. Is that the ultimate plan?

I dont know if it's a new policy or just something weird that happened, but my April shipment arrived with the comics carefully packaged up in a separate cardboard envelope before being included in the bigger overall package.

If that's a new strategy, it worked very well for me - some previous issues have had a few dog-eared corners or other creases but these were all in pristine condition when they arrived.

Cheers
Steve

Do the forum administrators see who has flagged a given post? (I presume you could see if you wanted, but does that show up automatically?)

Does a post with multiple flags become "highly flagged"? Or is it an all or nothing thing?

There's no agenda, I just wondered.

Cannons are things which fire cannonballs.

Canon is a body of work deemed "official".

This might be an embarrassing thread, but The Lonely Coast PDF has been added to my downloads (on the 27th of March) and I can't remember ordering it or anything. There isn't an order on that day in my history.

Have I got someone else's PDF by mistake, maybe? (Or is the dementia worse than I'd suspected?)

I've selected PDFs from the APs before and just cut and paste them into word, where I could print them out without all the numbers/etc.

I just tried to do that with the second instalment of Serpent's Skull (AP38, I think?) and it wouldnt work - it selected the whole page, with all the text but not the image.

Have things changed? Or have I maybe unknowingly upgraded my software or something?

Any chance paizo is able to stock the printed versions of these PDFs?

Occasionally, I get a little trigger happy (or flag something by mistake on my iPad). I figured it might reduce the workload of the forum staff and probably save a few "wtf is wrong with that/him?" moments if I could easily take it back.

When I try and click the little 'x' to stop following a thread in Focussed mode, I get a long error (which I can't cut and paste, but let me know if the numbers matter...) Something like:

"There is no element on this page with identity auc_2_8_Standard Template.1.3.0.0.0.6.78....."

I dont get the same issue in unfocussed mode.

I'm not sure if this belongs here, Website Feedback or somewhere else, so it will start here..

It sounds like I'm in the extreme minority, but I thought I'd mention it, given the oft-repeated requests for excerpts/previews/etcetera of upcoming products. I much prefer the experience of flipping through a new paizo book where I havent seen a substantial number of the good bits earlier on the website.

I make a point of not reading those blogs with excerpts or previews, but it's not uncommon to have people discussing 'confirmed contents' of upcoming products. Similarly, the blog posts often have intriguing titles which are not entirely transparent as to what their contents might be - so sometimes I open them inadvertently.

As I say, I suspect I'm in the minority, but I wanted to make the point anyhow. Keeping the details of books secret enhances my enjoyment of receiving your products*, so please dont bow to the pressure of the various requests along the lines of "what's in that book coming out next month?"

Hi CS people

Could you please cancel my preorder for Only War RPG: Hammer of the Emperor?

Thanks
Steve

I understand that a demons revisited doesn't automatically imply a devils revisited is on the cards. However, if you were casting about for something to do, i wonder if Wes has some free time he hasn't yet committed to making awesome stuff.

Please register one vote in favour of using up his "spare" time.

Hi paizo CS people

Would you be able to cancel my preorders of the AD&D unearthed arcana and the Dungeons of dread premium reprints, please? My FLGS is getting them in and I am just too impatient.

Cheers
Steve

In response to this post from James:

The idea of an environment book in the hardcover line is, in fact, one that several folks at Paizo are pretty lukewarm on, so letting us know that you'd like us to do a hardcover environment book can only help.

(I'm not one of those, though... having helped launch the environment hardcovers with Frostburn for WotC, I'm pretty sure that this is a solid idea for a hardcover—probably one that focuses on ALL environments though, since the rulebooks are world-neutral and because we do more monster books than 3.5 did, and therefore putting monsters in a hardcover rulebook might not work...)

I'd like to express my support for a hardcover rule book focused on differing environments and other facets of exploring/travelling/survival. I would imagine it including/expanding on the arctic/jungle/etcetera survival mechanics from the various APs and also covering some of the same territory as the frostburn/etcetera WotC books (though not rehashing those mechanics - id prefer a clean slate approach). Perhaps a more involved tracking/hunting subsystem. Fleshing out of some of the outdoorsy skills. Some new survival equipment for a variety of terrains. A couple of archetypes? Some natural and supernatural hazards/traps. Maybe even a bestiary?

I think there'd be a lot of value having one place to go for that stuff (and would broaden the palette, so to speak, for mechanics to utilise in future APs and modules - avoiding the need for coming up with new subsystems within the context of a product on a monthly schedule).

I know it's early, but please tell me the reprint of the white box is going to be available here!

I’ve got pretty much a complete set of Golarion sourcebooks/APs/modules/etcetera and they are amongst my favourite RPG books ever. I can count on one hand the number I didn’t think were at least “very very good”. Any time I flip through one I find them an excellent mix of inspiring, informative, pleasurable-to-read...

Nonetheless, of late I’ve found myself less enthusiastic about my monthly subscription package. I don’t devour the books quite as voraciously as I used to and in fact, have still not read some of January’s shipment despite February’s being on the way. I still think each individual book is terrific, yet the overall enthusiasm for each monthly release day is waning.

Has anyone else been in that position? Anyone have any recommendations for rekindling that “Christmas morning” experience when a Paizo package arrives? I don’t think the quality has dropped (in fact I like the revamped Player’s guide, am looking forward to Ultimate Campaign and am hopeful the switch in modules format will reinvigorate a slightly stagnating brand – intellectually, at least, I’m very happy with “where things are going”. I just can’t seem to muster the same enthusiasm I used to). :/

Hi CS people

Would you be able to cancel the following preorders for me, please?

Dungeon Crawl Classics #75 - Order#2384781
Dungeon Crawl Classics #76 - Order#2384782
Advanced Adventures #26 - Order#2383572
Advanced Adventures #27 - Order#2383573
DC Adventures:Universe Hardcover - Order #2382044

It turns out that one can have enough adventures after all.

Cheers
Steve

Hi CS people.

Could you please cancel the glades of death book that's been pending for a little while now?

Thanks
Steve

That new(ish) feature of being able to stop tracking new posts in a thread you either accidentally clicked or have now lost interest in is excellent.

There's very few forums I find as easy to use as this one. Having said that, I would have quite liked to be able to use [b] and/or [i] in the thread title, if someone's to-do list is looking empty... ;p

Having cancelled one of two minis subscriptions before they shipped, I then went back and ordered a second case+premium after the fact as a one-off order (thus neglecting to claim a mega-discount I would have got as a subscriber).

Without even asking, some alert CS person (I'm guessing carebear) sails in and arranges store credit for the discount I would have got if I'd just left things as they were.

Thanks Sara! (I'm guessing) I like the way you guys protect free from those problems of my own creation. :p

There's a thread in the Pathfinder Adventure Path General Discussion forum called "Adventure Path question" but whenever I click on it it takes me here.

Nothing else seems screwy.

The guy who runs my local flgs just called me about the shattered star case I had asked him to get for me. Apparently, both Australian distributors are listing a case as being two bricks. Anyone have any clue what's going on here? I'd like to get a set through him, but not if I run the risk of buying two halves of a case with all the duplication/incompleteness problems that would entail.

Note: You purchased this product yesterday. View order.

Nearly here!

Hi Paizo CS people

My subscription notice just arrived with a warning about backorders holding up the shipment. I think the DCC hardcover was in stock when I ordered it, even though it's now showing as a backorder. However, would you mind confirming that for me?

I'm really keen to get this shipment as soon as possible, so if that item is going to delay it, I'd rather have it moved to a later month.

Cheers
Steve

Any chance that paizo will be able to stock these at some point?

I think my unused encounter pack discounts from being a subscriber when H&M shipped have just expired. I was holding off on using them, since they haven't been released as quickly as initially intended, based on this post by Vic.

Is the plan still to extend them by six months? Is it an issue that they've dropped off my subscriptions page?

There have been a few times when I've been looking for printed copies and have accidentally ended up almost purchasing a PDF.

Here's an example of what I mean.

Since I got to that page by selecting OSRIC, then Expeditious Retreat Press, then Advanced Adventures before finally being offered the choice of electronic products or print products. It's a little odd that most of the offerings on the "print editions" page are, in fact, PDFs.

I realise you have a usual policy of appending PDF to the title to make things clear and it's very rare that this is overlooked. It's also pretty obvious when you go to the checkout stage (although can slip by if you're getting a bunch of things in one order) so it's obviously not distressingly urgent.

Presumably it's tricky to work out what people are going to want to see when products are offered in dual format (or print/pdf bundles). I'd also guess I'm in a minority in my browsing habits. Nonetheless, I thought I'd mention it in case it's the kind of thing you might be able to fix without too much stress. It's been a little disappointing to find some "print products" only to realise during checkout that they're not being shipped and will be added to my downloads. :/

Hi CS people

Something odd is happening with the current items in my sidecart (one preorder and a bunch of other stuff - each set to "hold for upcoming subscription shipment").

I can get through checkout and assign store credit, select my address, choose a payment option and so forth, then it drops me back to the final step and I can't select the "place my order" button. I can choose the button right next to it ("continue shopping") and any of the other buttons on that page - however when I hover over "place my order" the cursor doesnt change to a finger and clicking it doesnt achieve anything.

I've been through it a few times - it's a little weird.

No urgency, but would you mind working your CS magic (again)?

Cheers
Steve

When I used to MUD a lot, I generally played solo largely due to my work/life situation. I can post throughout the day and night, pretty much, but rarely for more than thirty to sixty minutes at a time.

Teaming up and going on long, protracted runs (or raids now I think?) was just not possible - I would break them into small, discrete stages and gradually go kill the mob by myself over a few days or even a week (logging several characters on and off over that period of time). The "meaningful player interaction" thrust of PFO makes me think the way I used to MUD won't really fit well. Will there be anything for someone in my situation to do though? Crafting, perhaps? Trading?(do people run bots in MMOs and are those considered desirable?)

Is it likely to be sellable? Shareable (I'm thinking something like a guild house or similar)?

If the player goes away for a while does it crumble into ruin? If upkeep payments are missed but "caught up" does it return to its former glory?

Is it a prototypical "player house"? Is it likely to be possible to build extensions later in the game? Use it as a "seed" for a settlement?

I was wondering if there's been any discussion about this sort of stuff anywhere. Cheers.

I don't play multiplayer games anymore but used to MUD quite a bit. "Back then" it used to be common to build up a stable of characters (even if you were only allowed to log one at a time) and share gold, property and equipment between them. Is that still the done thing? (Or more specifically, will it be the done thing in PFO?) It did create a problem of unique or other valuable items sitting unused in "storage characters". No doubt there were other issues I wasn't aware of.

I've been away for a week so might have missed this. Have there been any details as to exactly what these entail yet?

Hi paizo. Would you be able to remove the navies primer from my side art, please?

Cheers
Steve

In another thread, another poster wrote:

But then I read more about the subscription and SKILL system, and how they are tied together. How it sounds like they are copying EVE, and the advancement of your character skills have NOTHING whatsoever to do with achievements in the game (which really bugs me). You just get constant training, on AND offline, depending on how much you paid.

Of course the cap seems to be the full month subscription... but then I read that there will be a market available where you can buy "training points" for in-game currency. Currency which is available through the cash shop for real money.

Hence, it SOUNDS like someone with a lot of money can just cap out on training for the month, then go to the market and buy even MORE training points until they have quickly maxed out their character.
Thus, Pay2Win, unless I'm misunderstanding (completely possible).

and I wondered why this is seen as a bad thing? I'm unlikely to play this game, but if I do I'm likely to have very little time and interest in levelling up. Is there a problem if I have the option of paying for a "finished character" without having to go through the slog that other have? Doesnt that just mean more capital to make the game better for those with the opportunity to play more than me?

I know very, very little about these kinds of games, I just dont understand what the problem is (provided there arent some options solely available through purchasing for real dollars). It seems to me it's just a way to reach a different market - a market likely to be far more profitable for Goblinworks than those able to play a few hours a day and 'do it the hard way'.

Please take that query as it is - from someone relatively ignorant about how it all works and the online RPG culture. I just dont really see how it affects anyone else if I pay extra and level faster.

I really appreciate these kinds of store blogs. I've grabbed a few of each and there's no way I would have noticed this line without it - I wouldnt even have gone looking.

Hi Paizo people

The above order looks a little wonky to me...

Issues 88,89 and 151 are a bargain (presumably they're no longer in print, but if they are, I'd like to get them for whatever price they should be).

In addition, some of the others are showing a discount applied (with the whole line through thing) and others arent (but the undiscounted price looks like what I would expect the discounted price to be, if that makes sense...?)

Anyhow - if someone could look into that, I'd appreciate it. Hopefully it's clear what I want - if the 'zero dollar' ones are actually in print and available, could you just charge the proper price of them to my card?

Cheers
Steve

PS - I dont want the PDFs of any of them, if I've accidentally ordered that somehow... :/

In one of the various "why can't we subscribe to PFS" threads, vic mentioned a possible feature of "add every PDF on this page to my side art unless I already own it". Any chance this is getting closer to fruition? Or if its been ruled out?

In fact (and perhaps better for you, since it encourages immediate purchases), I'd really like the ability to preorder everything from a given product line (basically a subscription option with no benefit beyond convenience). I know it's not that hard to keep on top of PFS scenario releases, but I still worry that one may come and go at some point without me noticing. Also, I understand the card game may not have a feasible subscription option (due to not being able to construct meaningful subscriber benefits). I'd very much like to be able to sign up for everything until further notice so that, as things come available for preorder, they just get dumped into my sidecart to be shipped with a future subscription.

Finally, is there any chance all the subscriptions could be set up like the PF Battles subscription? (So we could adjust the number of subscriptions from 1-lots). I appreciate you probably want CS involvement in a full cancellation, but I'd like the ability to "up" my subscriptions for a period of time (most likely the player companions, but also the cards and maps). Currently I do that with preorders and/or through CS, but it would be useful to me if I could tweak it more easily.

I know these things are unlikely to get lots of use, but if they were available (even if hard to find, to minimise accidents and extra CS work) I, for one, would really appreciate it, so it can't hurt to ask.

Hi Paizo

My currently pending subscription shipment includes a backordered item (an OSRIC adventure) which seems to have been dropping in and out of backordered/available status for the last few weeks. It held up a previous non-subscription shipment for a while and I just want to check that it wont delay my subscription shipment.

If it isnt actually in the warehouse, would you mind cancelling it please? It doesnt look like it's behaving in the usual way that backorders do and I dont want to wait for the next subscription any longer than I need to.

Cheers
Steve